Abengoa Solar wraps up USD 1.45bn financing deal for 250-MW solar plant in Arizona

(ADPnews) - Dec 22, 2010 - Abengoa Solar SA, a unit of Spanish engineering company Abengoa (MCE:ABG), said yesterday it had secured financing of USD 1.45 billion (EUR 1.1bn) to build its 250-MW Solana parabolic trough concentrating solar plant (CSP) in Arizona.

The total investment in the facility, the company's fourteenth CSP plant globally and its first large-scale CSP development in the US, amounts to USD 2 billion. It represents a key project for the company's growth on the US solar market, Abengoa said.

Solana will generate enough electricity to power 70,000 homes, saving 475,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually. Via a molten salt thermal energy storage technology, the facility will be able to store up to six hours of power, releasing it at peak demand or after sunset. All of the output will be sold to local utility Arizona Public Service Co (NYSE:PNW) under a 30-year power purchase deal.

At present, Abengoa Solar operates 193 MW of solar systems and is developing 930 MW of solar power around the world.

(USD 1 = EUR 0.764)

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